GIFT.  OF 


» 

. 

Our  Friend, 
France 


Lecture  given  at  Harvard  University 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Cercle  Franfais 

February  2,   1916 

Lecture  at  the  Harvard  Club,   Boston 
February  1,   1916 


By 
WHITNEY  WARREN 

AM.  Hon.  Harvard  1913. 

Membre  de  L'Institut  de  France 


New   York 
1916 


Price,  10  cents 


Our  Friend, 
France 


Lecture  given  at  Harvard  University 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Cercle  Fra^ais 

February  2,   1916 

Lecture  at  the  Harvard  Club,  Boston 
February  1,   1916 

By 
WHITNEY  WARREN 

AM.  Hon.  Harvard  1915. 
Membre  de  L'Institut  de  France 


OUR  FRIEND, 
FRANCE 

GENTLEMEN 

In  the  face  of  the  great  conflict,  which  is  de- 
vastating the  Old  Continent,  the  New  World,  is 
divided  between  the  concern  for  its  own  happiness, 
and  that  of  its  honor,  and  hesitates  to  take  its 
place  openly  by  the  side,  of  those  who  are  defend- 
ing Liberty  and  Justice.  It  is  indeed  a  sad  posi- 
tion that  we  have  been  made  to  take,  in  a  dispute 
where  we  had,  at  the  same  time,  a  role  so  glorious 
and  useful  to  fill.  Those  who  have  the  responsi- 
bility of  having  forced  us  into  such  an  attitude, 
are  on  the  eve  of  rendering  their  accounts,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  People  will  judge  them  with 
severity.  Obedient  to  their  instincts,  our  People 
understand  very  well  what  is  expected  from  us,  in 
accordance  with  our  History  and  Dignity.  We 
have,  in  a  general  way,  an  exact  appreciation  of 
our  duty,  and  this  permits  us  to  wait,  in  all  con- 
fidence, THE  DAY  WHEN  WE  WILL  SEE 
ONCE  AGAIN,  SHUT  UP  IN  THEIE 
STUDIES,  THOSE  WHO  HAVE  BY  AM- 
BIGUOUS DISSERTATIONS,  LED  US  FROM 
THE  STRAIGHT  PATH.  I  have,  indeed,  been 
able  to  convince  myself  since  my  return  to  the 
United  States,  that  Opinion  is  healthy  and  far- 
seeing;  but,  I  have  also  been  able  to  see,  that  on 
certain  points  this  Opinion,  is  not  wisely  in- 
formed, and  it  is  on  these  points  that  I  would  like 
to  speak  to-day,  so  that  you  may  also,  if  you  agree 
with  me,  aid  in  dissipating  several  errors  too 
evidently  ''Made  in  Germany/' 

The  first  of  these  errors,  bear  upon  the  role  of 
France,  in  the  actual  war,  and  the  second  on  the 

327844 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

role  of  Great  Britain.  They  have  been  dressed 
up  and  masqueraded,  both  of  them,  by  the  Ger- 
man propaganda,  which,  having  failed  in  its 
brutal  action,  hopes  for  better  success  through 
insinuation.  Their  manner  of  effecting  public 
opinion  is  not  dangerous,  when  it  limits  itself  to 
criminal  tactics,  but  it  becomes  so,  when  they  ad- 
vance seditious  and  false  theories,  apparently 
based  upon  facts,  and  against  which  the  unwary 
are  not  warned. 

Amongst  these  theories  there  is  none  more 
perfidious,  than  the  one,  which  consists  in  wish- 
ing to  convince,  us  Americans,  that  France  is 
only  engaged  in  this  War  through  the  bad  luck 
of  having  had  Allies.  This  is  done  by  giving 
false  reasoning  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Con- 
flict, in  attributing  it  to  the  commercial  rivalry  be- 
tween England  and  Germany.  They  are  well 
aware,  in  Berlin,  of  the  great  moral  influence  that 
France  enjoys  all  over  the  world,  the  great  sym- 
pathy she  has  always  aroused  throughout  her  his- 
tory, due  to  the  generosity  of  her  great  principles 
and  of  her  conduct.  But  more  particularly,  here 
she  counts  innumerable  friends  who  are  not  pre- 
pared to  neglect  her.  We  owe  to  her  a  debt  of 
recognition,  so  evident,  that  nobody  could  dream 
of  the  possibility  of  our  forgetting  it;  it  would 
be  useless,  and  too  clumsy,  for  Germany  to  at- 
tempt to  convince  us  that  France  is  our  enemy; 
but,  on  the  contrary — how  easy  it  is  to  exploit 
our  old  discussion  with  England,  and  to  use 
her  as  a  scare-crow.  The  German  tactics  are 
none  other  than  this. 

If  it  were  possible  to  establish,  that  the  object 
of  this  formidable  War,  is  the  supremacy  of  the 

[2] 


OUR   FRIEND,    FRANCE 

World  by  Great  Britain  and,  if  it  were  possible, 
to  reduce  the  role  of  France  to  that  of  an  accom- 
plice, a  double  result  might  be  hoped  for: — First, 
to  re-awaken  the  souvenir  of  our  old  quarrels  with 
one  of  these  powers,  and  secondly,  to  weaken  the 
motives  we  might  have  to  uphold  the  other;  to 
awaken  an  old  suspicion  and  to  put  asleep  an  old 
friendship,  by  blarney-ing  us  on  the  origin,  as 
well  as  consequences  of  the  struggle;  TO  SUB- 
STITUTE FOE  THE  EEMOESE  WE  MIGHT 
FEEL,  FOE  ABANDONING  AN  OLD  FEIEND, 
THE  EXCUSE  OF  A  LEGITIMATE  FEAE 
AGAINST  AN  OLD  ENEMY. 

But  this  is  a  speculation  with  which  we  must 
not  allow  ourselves  to  be  duped — to  so  much  cun- 
ning we  must  oppose  even  more.  NO !  This  war 
was  not  declared  because  the  docks  of  London 
were  jealous  of  the  docks  of  Hamburg.  It  has  been 
established  beyond  controversy  that  Germany 
alone  has  taken  the  fearful  responsibility  of  start- 
ing the  War  and  that  for  a  long  time  she  has 
premeditated  her  attack.  England  had  no  other 
ambition  than  to  develop  her  power  through 
peace.  Her  absolute  lack  of  military  preparation 
at  the  beginning  of  the  hostilities  is  an  irrefutable 
proof.  It  is,  therefore,  a  simple  lie  to  say  that  she 
has  ever  dreamed  of  conquering  by  her  arms  a 
dangerous  competitor.  It  is  even  not  true  that 
Germany  had,  in  the  first  instance,  the  intention 
of  the  immediate  ruin  of  her  great  rival;  it  was 
not  against  England  that  she  had  the  intention  of 
mobilizing. 

Eead  for  yourselves,  the  official  report  of  the 
diplomatic  interviews,  which  preceded  the  rup- 
ture. You  will  see  that  up  to  the  last  moment, 

[3] 


OUR    FRIEND,    FRANCE 

Germany  attempted  by  all  means  in  her  power, 
by  all  sorts  of  disloyal  propositions,  to  insure 
the  neutrality  of  England.  Undoubtedly,  it  was 
not  in  the  spirit  of  gentleness,  that  she  tried  thus 
to  keep  up  the  good  relations,  between  the  two 
countries!  She  felt  that  she  was  not  strong 
enough,  to  take  on  so  much  of  the  world  at  the 
same  moment,  and  she  was  reserving  for  the  fu- 
ture, (after  a  complete  victory  over  her  Conti- 
nental neighbors)  the  chance  of  in  turn  destroying 
her  great  maritime  rival.  Her  politicians  fore- 
saw two  distinct  wars — one  leading  to  the  abso- 
lute defeat  of  France,  and  of  Eussia,  not  count- 
ing Belgium  and  Servia,  and  later — in  her  turn — 
England,  when  she  found  herself  isolated. 

This  division  of  effort  appeared  to  her  more 
handy,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  the  only 
way,  in  which  she  could  hope  to  achieve  her  su- 
preme supremacy. 

Her  plan,  too  cunning,  did  not  work  out;  but, 
none  the  less,  in  the  actual  struggle,  FRANCE, 
HAS  THE  EIGHT,  AND  DEMANDS  IT,  OF 
BEING  CONSIDERED  THE  INITIAL,  THE 
PEINCIPAL  ADVEESAEY,  AND  WITH  HEE, 
HEE  ALLY— EUSSIA.  IT  IS  ENGLAND  WHO 
ENTEEED  INTO  THE  GAME  BY  CHANCE, 
OE  EATHEE,  OUT  OF  EESPECT  FOE  HU- 
MANITY, AND  BY  AN  EXACT  UNDEE- 
STANDING,  OF  WHAT  HEE  INTEEEST 
WAS.  The  violation  of  Belgian  territory  made 
her  interpret,  what  is  known  as  the  "  Entente 
Cordiale,"  in  its  largest  sense,  and  give  to  it 
the  character  of  a  true  Alliance.  She  immediately 
took  sides  with  the  enemies  of  Violence  and  of 
Perjury,  to  save  her  honor,  and  also  (why  hesi- 

[4] 


OUB    FRIEND,    FRANCE 

tate  to  say  it?)  to  preserve  her  force.  These  are 
two  motives,  of  which  she  may  well  be  proud,  and 
which  unite  themselves  in  one ;  because,  it  proves 
THAT  THERE  AEE  NATIONS,  WHICH 
STILL  ESTEEM,  THAT  HONOR  INTACT  IS 
AN  ESSENTIAL  CONDITION  OF  POWER. 

Therefore,  do  not  let  us  take  as  truth,  all  that  it 
appears  wise  to  Germany  to  let  us  know.  Do  not 
let  us  accept,  without  discussion,  the  false  reason- 
ings which  she  advances.  The  real  object,  the  real 
cause  of  the  present  war,  is  much  nobler  than  she 
would  have  us  believe,  and  FRANCE,  is  the  flag 
around  which  have  rallied  all  the  people  who  still 
count  Dignity  and  Freedom  for  something.  Do 
not  let  us  say — "What  a  pity  for  France  that  she 
has  embarked  on  this  enterprise ! "  But,  let  us 
say — "What  a  glory  for  her,  to  be  at  the  head  of 
all  FREE  Nations !"  AND  LET  US  CONSIDER, 
THAT  THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  ALLIES 
WILL  BE,  ABOVE  ALL,  THE  TRIUMPH  OF 
THE  GREAT  PRINCIPLES  WHICH  FRANCE 
HAS  ALWAYS  DEFENDED,  AND  WHICH 
ARE  THE  VERY  CONDITIONS  OF  OUR  OWN 
EXISTENCE— THE  VERY  CHARTER  OF 
OUR  OWN  CONSTITUTION.  All  other  consid- 
erations may  be  forgotten  but  these.  Do  not  let  us 
permit  that  the  veritable  cause  be  diminished.  Do 
not  let  us  be  uneasy,  if,  in  giving  our  help  to  the 
cause  of  the  Allies,  we  are  playing  the  game  of 
such  and  such  a  power.  Let  us  persuade  ourselves 
simply,  that  there  are  general  doctrines,  uni- 
versal doctrines,  that  surpass  all  individual  ones, 
and  which  FRANCE  symbolizes.  She  would  ag- 
grandize those  who  fight  beside  her,  if  they  need 
aggrandizement.  She  diminishes  those  who  fight 

[5] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

against  her,  OR  WHO,  EVEN  BY  THEIR  IN- 
DIFFERENCE AND  INERTIA,  DO  NOT  SUS- 
TAIN HER. 

The  quadruple  Alliance  is  made  up  of  all  sorts 
of  races — Latins,  Anglo  Saxons,  and  Slavs;  and  all 
sorts  of  Governments — Republican,  Constitutional, 
Monarchial,  and  Autocratic. 

The  common  necessity,  to  reduce  a  cynical  and 
aggressive  power,  has  re-united  them.  A  common 
instinct  for  preservation,  has  made  them  Allies; 
forgetting  their  difference  of  character,  and  the 
difference  of  their  mode  of  ruling,  they  find  them- 
selves side  by  side,  to  fight  against  the  revolting 
principles,  the  monstrous  pretensions  of  bar- 
baric Germany.  This  offers  to  the  most  dif- 
ferent elements  of  opinion,  an  occasion  of 
fraternizing  under  the  name  of  the  Ideal  for, 
the  defense  of  Humanity.  The  Czar  of  all  the 
Russians,  does  not  speak  to  his  people,  in  another 
language  than  the  President  of  the  Republic, 
speaks  to  the  citizens  of  France.  They  invoke, 
both  of  them,  Liberty  and  Right,  to  prove  the 
necessity  of  a  struggle  to  the  bitter  end.  They, 
both  of  them,  appeal  to  the  everlasting  aspira- 
tions of  Conscience,  because,  it  is  in  all  verity, 
that  which  is  the  price  at  stake.  All  the  rest  is  of 
no  importance.  Who  would  have  said,  a  short 
time  ago,  that  to-day  we  would  see  Russia  and 
England,  (whose  ambitions  in  several  points  of  the 
globe  are  very  much  opposed),  giving  each  other 
the  hand  to  aid  in  the  common  cause,  and  for- 
getting their  private  quarrels?  To  obtain  such  a 
result  something  greater  than  mere  personal  rea- 
sons, must  have  sprung  up — something  stronger 
than  the  rancour  or  the  suspicion,  analgous  to 

[6] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

that  which  certain  Americans  seem  still  to  harbor 
against  Great  Britain.  THIS  SOMETHING,  IS 
NOTHING  BUT  THE  WILL  TO  MAKE  RE- 
SPECTED THE  GREAT  LAWS  OF  HUMAN- 
ITY. 

Are  we  not  going  to  show  ourselves  capable  of 
conquering  our  personal  dislikes,  no  matter  what 
they  are,  and  to  understand,  that  there  is  some- 
thing greater  and  more  universal  that  should  in- 
terest us  I  Are  we  not  going  to  abandon  our  ego- 
tistical aversions  and  allow  ourselves,  with  our 
whole  soul,  to  practice  a  more  generous  and  uni- 
versal sympathy!  The  end  that  Germany  has  in 
view,  is  to  profit  by  our  animosity  against  either 
one  or  the  other  of  the  Allies.  She  excites  against 
England  those  who,  without  reasoning,  dislike 
her.  She  excites  the  Jews,  against  Russia.  For, 
let  it  be  remembered,  it  is  the  German  Jew  who  in 
this  country  are  continually  exciting  opinion 
against  Russia — not  the  Russian  Jew.  She  calls 
to  her  aid  all  we  have  within  us  that  is  most  vul- 
gar, and  that  which  is  the  lowest,  for  she  attempts 
to  exploit  our  Hatred.  One  discovers  there  the 
work  of  a  low  and  vile  nature ;  but,  we  will  escape 
from  her  iniquitous  suggestions — for,  we  know 
that  the  only  nobility  consists  in  searching  and 
working  for  reasons  of  Love  and  of  Friendship; 
and  it  is  certainly  not  Germany  which  furnishes 
us  with  these. 

FRANCE  personifies,  in  this  War,  the  ideas 
which  have  assembled  the  nations  solicitous  of 
Justice.  She  is  the  dominant  Living  Thought,  as 
expressed  by  the  Allies.  She  plays  outside  of  her 
military  role, — a  role  no  less  important — that  of 
"ANIMATRICE,"  as  would  say,  the  poet 

[7] 


OUB   FRIEND,    FRANCE 

d'Annunzio  —  and,  is  there  any  comparable 
to  it?  I  fail  to  see  it  and  do  not  believe  it, 
because,  without  it  no  other  can  exist.  The  great 
drama  which  is  being  played  at  this  moment 
would  have  no  reason  for  being,  if  FEANCE  and 
all  that  she  represented  at  the  beginning,  did  not 
give  it  one!  All  the  other  personages  of  the  play 
are  living  her  moral  life;  and,  it  is  for  that  reason, 
they  have  the  right  of  receiving  from  us  an  equal 
admiration.  If,  in  ordinary  times,  you  do  not  feel 
a  strong  affinity  toward  England  or  toward  Eus- 
sia  to-day  love  them  because  of  their  resemblance 
to  France.  When  people  come  and  say  to  you:— 
"But  it  is  Germany  and  England  who  are  really 
at  war  to-day  and  we  do  not  desire  the  victory  of 
either  one  or  the  other  I"  let  us  answer  "NO !  IT 
IS  BAEBAEISM  AND  CIVILIZATION,  AND 
BOTH,  THEOUGHOUT  HISTOEY,  HAVE  AC- 
QUIEED  OTHEE  NAMES.  THE  FIEST  IS 
GEEMANY,  IT  IS  TEUE ;  BUT,  THE  SECOND 
IS  FEANCE. " 

Therefore,  my  young  friends,  do  not  forget  to 
protest  every  time  that  people  attempt  to  confuse 
you  on  the  true  object  of  this  vast  conflagration. 
You  are  the  Intelligence  and  the  Future  of  this 
country.  YOU  WILL  DIEECT,  ONE  DAY,  ITS 
DESTINIES.  MAKE  THE  EFFOET  NOW  SO 
THAT  THEY  MAY  NOT  BE  LEFT  TO  YOU 
IN  A  EATHEE  SAD  AND  DAMAGED  STATE. 
You  have  the  right  to  talk  and  to  protest ;  and  be- 
lieve me,  that,  at  the  present  moment,  your  herit- 
age is  being  neglected.  They  are  diminishing  it 
morally,  in  trying  to  mislead  the  United  States  as 
to  the  true  significance  of  this  war,  and,  to  confine 
us  to  a  passive  role,  under  the  pretext  that  we  have 
no  interest  to  serve  in  assisting  a  British  victory. 

[8] 


OUR   FRIEND,    FRANCE 

A  moment  ago  I  spoke  of  Love  and  of  Friend- 
ship. It  was  of  you  I  was  thinking  when  I  pro- 
nounced those  words.  You  are  of  the  age,  when 
these  sentiments  fill  the  heart,  and  when  they  are 
capable  of  performing  miracles.  You  have  fervor 
and  enthusiasm!  Use  them  to  their  utmost,  to 
render  more  real  still,  the  natural  inclination  we 
have  in  America  to  lean  toward  FRANCE.  This 
inclination,  I  know,  is  not  absolutely  inert.  It  has 
manifested  itself  by  all  sorts  of  individual  initia- 
tives, generous  and  touching,  but  it  is  still  a  long 
way  from  giving  what  we  have  the  right  to  expect 
of  it.  What  more  noble  purpose  can  be  made  of 
your  youthful  ardour,  than  by  all  the  means  pos- 
sible, by  speech,  and  by  charity,  by  your  every 
day  thought  and  actions,  to  support  a  country 
which  is  truly  yours,  since  it  paid  with  its  blood, 
the  liberty  of  your  ancestors.  Turn  your  eyes 
from  everything  that  is  not  AMERICA,  that  is 
to  say,  from  everything  that  is  not  FRANCE! 

Many  of  your  elders,  it  is  only  just  to  say,  are 
paying  their  debt;  have  gone  without  hesitating 
to  offer  their  services  to  General  Joffre,  as  in  by- 
gone times  LaFayette  did  in  offering  his  arms  to 
General  Washington.  We  are  living  in  a  time,  it 
is  true,  when  one  is  not  named  a  Major  General  in 
his  twentieth  year,  as  was  LaFayette.  Those  who 
have  gone  over  there  are  simply  soldiers,  aviators, 
ambulance  attendants;  some  of  them  have  a 
grade — one  that  does  not  give  them  command  of 
a  division;  but,  let  us  remember  that  merit,  is  not 
measured  by  the  number  of  stripes  upon  the 
sleeve.  I  am  not  asking  you  to  imitate  them,  but 
here,  at  home,  to  propogate  the  belief  in  the 
French.  Since  you  have  the  luck  to  belong  to~a 

[9] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

country  that  has  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  pay,  (I 
say  luck,  because  it  is  luck,  for  a  people  with 
proper  instincts  to  have  moral  obligations),  apply 
yourselves  to  paying  it.  There  can  be  no  better 
task  for  your  hearts.  Gratitude  permits  you  to 
find  immediately  where  to  place  your  sentimental 
resources — what  might  be  called  your  sentimental 
assets.  Convert  these  into  bonds  of  Friendship! 
You  have  a  wonderful  role  to  play — that  of  re- 
calling to  those  who  are  apt  to  forget,  that 
FRANCE  is  at  this  moment  fighting  for  YOUE 
FUTURE  HAPPINESS;  that  she  defends  YOUE 
HOMES,  at  the  same  time  she  defends  her  own; 
that  YOUE  BEOTHEES— young  fellows  of  your 
own  age,  are  falling  over  there  on  the  battlefield, 
SO  THAT  CIVILIZATION  MAY  NOT  PEEISH, 
AND  THAT  YOU  MAY  STILL  BENEFIT  BY 
ITS  GIFTS. 

At  Paris,  in  the  School  of  Fine  Arts,  to  which 
I  am  particularly  attached,  on  the  first  day  of 
mobilization,  out  of  1800  students,  1600  left  for 
first  line  defence. 

Can  you  imagine  a  similar  spectacle  taking 
place  here,  at  Harvard?  That  is  to  say,  that  out 
of  your  number,  which,  roughly  speaking,  is  7000, 
6400  should  to-morrow  abandon  their  studies  to 
offer  themselves  to  Death  in  the  defense  of  your 
ideals?  Can  you  imagine  your  classes  absolutely 
deserted — this  great  house,  sad  and  silent — the 
intellectual  life  suspended — your  work  left  unfin- 
ished— your  ambitions  changed — AND  YOUE- 
SELVES,  SETTLED  IN  THE  TEENCHES, 
YEAENING  AND  STEAINING  FOE  NA- 
TIONAL VICTOEY! 

That,  perhaps,  is  what  might  happen  some  day, 

[10] 


OUR    FRIEND,    FRANCE 

if  your  comrades,  in  France,  were  not  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  in  charge  of  disputing  the  devouring 
pretensions  of  Germany !  And  seeing  clearly  the 
dangers,  from  which,  through  their  struggle,  they 
are  saving  you — your  duty,  pushes  you  to  uphold 
their  cause,  to  encourage  them  by  your  active 
approbation,  and  to  testify  to  them  on  all  occa- 
sions your  solidarity.  These  students  of  all 
schools,  who  have  furnished  to  the  Eepublic  of 
France  her  most  brilliant  officers,  certainly,  when 
the  hour  rings  you  will  be  their  equals  in  courage! 
Therefore,  show  to  them  to-day,  that  their  Moral 
qualities,  are  the  same  as  yours;  that  you  are 
their  Peers,  not  only  in  Intelligence  but  through 
your  Conscience! 

I  see  for  you  a  sort  of  command  to  take — even 
in  peace — and  that  is,  to  direct  the  thoughts  of 
those  who  surround  you,  of  your  families,  of  your 
friends,  toward  FEANCE  who  is  struggling  and 
who  is  suffering.  Get  together  all  the  energy  that 
can  be  useful  to  her.  Beat  the  Eeveille !  so  that  no 
goodwill  may  be  distracted  from  the  straight  path. 
Make  yourselves  masters  of  all  hesitations  by 
preaching,  as  I  am  doing,  that  the  future  victory 
is  going  to  be  FEANCE,  that  of  her  principles, 
and  of  her  traditions.  If  you  meet  people  who 
have  a  grudge  against  England — some  vindictive 
Irishman,  for  example — say  to  them — "Do  you 
not  see  that  you  are  entering  the  service  and  aid- 
ing Germany?  If  your  grievances  are  justifiable, 
it  is  with  the  indefatigable  defenders  of  Justice, 
that  you  must  be — that  is  to  say,  with  FEANCE !" 
If  you  find  Jews,  who  are  hostile  to  Eussia,  say  to 
them — "Beware  of  so-called  German- American 
financiers  and  their  satellites  who  are  misleading 

[11] 


you.  Which  are  the  nations  which  have  received 
you  without  any  conditions — FRANCE  and  ENG- 
LAND. Germany,  before  the  war,  forbade  you 
the  access  to  any  career.  Are  you  going  to  thank 
her  for  this  humiliation  by  lending  her  a  hand? 
If  you  have  wrongs  and  demand  justice  you  must 
turn  to  the  two  great  people  of  the  Earth  who 
have  for  centuries  been  the  champions  of  your 
liberties.  They  have  been  your  help.  Are  you 
going  to  say  they  are  wrong? "  In  truth,  there- 
fore, I  repeat,  there  is  for  you,  a  great  work  of 
Love  and  Friendship  to  accomplish.  I  ask  you  to 
sow  words  of  union  and  of  fraternity,  and  I  have 
fathomless  confidence  in  your  youthful  gener- 
osity, in  your  enthusiasm,  in  your  great  power  of 
persuasion. 

This  is  not  all,  as  I  have  said  in  the  beginning 
I  want  to  put  you  on  guard  against  two  lies.  We 
have  considered  the  first,  which  consisted  in  de- 
naturalizing the  true  interests  which  are  at  stake 
in  this  struggle.  The  second  is  not  less  flagrant. 
It  is  that  which  consists  of  proving  that  England 
is  powerless  and  that  her  capacity,  as  a  whole,  is 
negligible.  In  other  words,  Germany  wishes  to 
show  on  one  side  that  England  is  possessed  of  an 
unhealthy  ambition,  and  on  the  other  side,  that 
she  is  absolutely  unfit  for  her  task,  and  so,  Ger- 
many hopes  to  expose  her  rival,  at  the  same  time, 
to  a  spirit  of  hatred,  and  to  a  spirit  of  disdain. 
For  France,  her  attitude  is  quite  the  contrary. 
Germany,  (knowing  that  she  cannot  make  France 
an  object  of  terror,  nor  an  object  of  sarcasm), 
attempts  to  transform  her  into  an  humble,  a  piti- 
ful country.  One  way  or  the  other,  she  tries  to 
create  in  us  sentiments  which  obstruct  our  frank 
ardor  in  her  cause. 

[12] 


OUK    FKIEND,    FRANCE 

Just  as  France  has  the  right,  NOT  to  the  com- 
passion which  is  destined  to  the  feeble,  but  to  the 
firm  respect,  which  a  great  power  deserves  when 
she  is  in  the  right,  so  ENGLAND  merits  NOT 
irony,  but  admiration! 

ENGLAND,  it  should  be  proclaimed,  has  real- 
ized in  the  space  of  eighteen  months  a  formidable 
work,  not  only  so  far  as  the  seas  are  concerned, 
but  also  for  Continental  defense;  but,  it  must  be 
remembered,  that  this  work  has  not  in  a  general 
way  been  manifested  by  destructive  results,  and  it 
is  for  this  very  reason,  that  her  efficiency  may  be 
contested. 

Up  to  the  present  moment,  the  English  effort 
has  been  signalized  by  daily  victory — but  by  a 
negative  victory — if  I  may  use  the  expression, — 
not  a  destructive  one.  This  victory,  is  over 
the  German  fleet  on  the  one  hand,  and  her 
extreme  preparation  on  the  other — which  has  not 
its  example  in  the  history  of  the  World.  The 
English  fleet  has  not  destroyed,  (and  for  just 
reasons,  as  you  know),  the  naval  forces  of  Ger- 
many; but  she  has  forbidden  them  to  leave  their 
refuge,  either  for  combat  or  for  commercial  pur- 
poses. There  has  not  been,  with  but  one  excep- 
tion, since  almost  the  beginning  of  the  War,  a 
single  frigate,  or  a  single  merchant  ship,  sailing 
under  the  German  flag.  I  omit  speaking  of  sub- 
marines— instruments,  (as  they  have  been  used), 
of  most  miserable  and  foul  murder;  and,  even 
they  have  not  succeeded,  in  the  smallest  way,  in 
beginning  to  equalize  the  power  of  the  two  fleets, 
or  in  any  way  to  obstruct  the  commercial  traffic 
between  the  allied  nations,  AND  OURSELVES, 
IT  MIGHT  BE  ADDED.  They  have  absolutely 

[13] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

failed  in  the  work  they  were  destined  to  accom- 
plish, and  have  only  succeeded  in  striking  popu- 
lar imagination  in  a  miserable  fashion. 

It  is  difficult  for  one  to  size  up,  in  all  its  sig- 
nificance, a  superiority  which  forbids  the  Central 
Empires,  the  access  of  ALL  the  Oceans,  which 
blockades  them,  which  deprives  them  of  the  air 
to  breathe,  which  in  the  end  must  become  vital. 
We  Americans,  do  we  understand  sufficiently  the 
daily  service  which  this  mastery  of  the  seas  ren- 
ders us?  Without  it  our  commerce  would  be 
stopped,  our  prosperity  diminished  instead  of  in- 
creased. We  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  Germany 
and  of  her  criminal  fantasies.  The  important 
results?  No!  It  is  not  Germany  who  has  ob- 
tained it  through  her  noisy,  shameful  and  mis- 
erable campaign;  but  ENGLAND,  WHO  HAS 
VIRTUALLY  DEMOLISHED  IN  THEIE  OWN 
POETS  THE  GERMAN  COLORS,  AND  FOR- 
BIDDEN THEM  TO  FLY  ON  THE  OPEN 
SEAS ! 

And  on  the  land?  England,  after  having  bril- 
liantly aided,  in  pushing  back  the  first  shock, 
has  taken  up  the  task  of  forming  armies  and 
chiefs.  This  task  was  one,  so  formidable,  that  it 
could  not,  indeed,  be  accomplished  in  a  day;  but 
it  is  a  remarkable  thing,  prodigous  even, — the 
spectacle  of  a  people,  who,  all  of  a  sudden,  had  to 
break  with  its  secular  traditions  to  follow  a  new 
destiny. 

England  gives  to  us  this  example — an  example, 
which  one  of  these  days  we  will  probably  have 
to  follow,  and  let  us  only  hope,  when  that  day 
comes,  we  may  do  as  well  as  she  has  done.  We 
have  the  opportunity  of  comparing  our  situation 

[14] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

of  to-day  with  hers  of  yesterday.  A  people  of 
sailors,  habituated — as  ourselves — to  consider 
their  geographical  position  impregnable;  a  posi- 
tion which  necessitated  an  organization  on  water 
for  national  defense ;  in  one  day  they  found  them- 
selves called  upon,  from  considering  themselves 
an  insular  power  to  consider  themselves  a  con- 
tinental one. 

A  doctrine  of  magnificent  loneliness,  had 
brought  them  to  feel,  (even  as  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine has  with  us),  an  absolute  indifference  to- 
ward militarism,  and  had  inspired  them  with  a 
feeling  of  security,  illusionary  and  dangerous. 

One  must  be  careful  of  doctrines  that  flatter 
LAZINESS  AND  VANITY,  also  of  those  that 
have  the  ambition  to  be  PEEPETUAL. 

All  that  is  eternal  and  regular,  can  be  found  in 
the  great  moral  laws;  but,  political  principles, 
which  depend  upon  the  particular  and  momentary 
consideration  of  each  state,  cannot  hope  to  be 
everlasting  truths,  because,  they  are  subject  to 
evolution  and  to  changing  conditions.  That 
which  was  our  strength  yesterday,  may  become 
our  weakness  to-morrow !  Monroe,  himself,  would 
probably  be  the  adversary  to-day  of  his  much 
vaunted  doctrine.  His  clear  sight  of  the  epoch 
in  which  he  lived,  does  not  permit  us  to  believe 
that  he  would  have  adopted,  in  our  days,  a  blind 
line  of  action.  The  great  lines  of  our  international 
policy  were  not  drawn  by  him  to  be  perpetuated 
into  infinity !  His  work  was  the  practical  reason- 
ing of  the  day;  but,  certainly,  he  would  not  have 
wanted  it  to  be  applied  against  good  common 
sense,  against  our  honor  and  against  our  interest. 
THE  RULE  HE  LAY  DOWN  WAS  DESTINED 

[15] 


OUR   FRIEND,    FRANCE 

TO  SEEVE  OUE  GEEATNESS;  BUT,  IT  IS 
INVOKED  TO-DAY,  WITHOUT  PAYING 
ANY  ATTENTION  TO  WHAT  NECESSITY 
CALLS  FOE,  AND  SIMPLY,  BECAUSE  IT  IS 
HANDY. 

And  so,  the  English  abused  a  rule  which  was 
no  longer  adaptable  to  reality,  but  which  merely 
permitted  them  to  exist,  with  the  least  possible 
effort.  Brutally,  they  have  obliged  themselves 
to  change  their  ideas,  and  they  have  immediately 
given  proof  of  the  energy,  which  one  would  like 
to  see  practiced  here,  before  the  hour  of  peril 
is  sounded.  Their  expeditionary  forces,  which 
amounted  to  100,000  men  the  day  before  the  war 
has  been  transformed  in  fourteen  months,  and 
by  voluntary  consent  of  individuals,  into  an  army 
of  4,000,000  men.  4,000,000  men  are  to-day  on 
the  English  front,  or  ready  to  be  sent  there — and 
the  whole  country  is  mobilized  in  its  entirety,  for 
the  needs  of  this  vast  force. 

The  daily  and  persevering  education,  that  it 
was  necessary  to  undertake,  in  order  to  make  plain 
to  each  Englishman,  the  error  of  his  supposed  tra- 
ditional geographical  privileges,  we,  still  have  the 
time  to  accomplish,  methodically  and  in  cold 
blood,  instead  of  resorting  to  a  great  unstudied 
effort,  which  is  always  perilous. 

BUT,  LET  US  EEMEMBEE  THEEE  IS 
NOT  ONE  MOMENT  TO  LOSE,  FOE,  AS  IT 
IS,  WE  HAVE  ALEEADY  LOST  EIGHTEEN 
MONTHS. 

We  find  ourselves,  as  did  England,  in  the  posi- 
tion of  an  individual  who  has  a  vocation,  but  who, 
in  order  to  insure  his  existence  has  got  to  learn  a 
trade.  Dilettanteism  to-day  is  not  sufficient.  We 

[16] 


OUR    FRIEND,    FRANCE 

must  have  trained  officers — soldiers  can  be 
found — but  officers,  it  takes  years  to  form,  and  not 
a  few  weeks,  as  in  our  present  pretension.  The 
effort  I  am  asking  for,  will  not  be  arrived  at  with- 
out discussion,  but  who  would,  as  a  Chief  of  State 
wait  another  moment  before  making  it.  The  feel- 
ing of  the  risk  that  our  country  is  running  should 
forbid  us  to  delay  one  day  the  moment  of  acting. 
England  and  France  also  have  repaired  their 
errors;  but,  think  of  what  would  have  been  their 
supremacy,  if,  instead  of  having  improvised,  they 
had  prepared!  Let  us  open  our  ears,  as  our  old 
friends  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ocean  have  done, 
to  the  voices  that  show  us  the  dangers  we  are 
running,  and  let  us  profit  by  our  good  luck  to  be 
able  to  prepare  without  precipitation,  but  with  a 
studied  rapidity. 

All  that  can  be  a  reproach  to  England  is  her 
thoughtlessness  in  time  of  peace;  but,  are  we 
qualified  to  make  that  reproach!  At  the  pres- 
ent moment  she  understands,  she  has  studied  the 
question  and  has  attacked  it.  BY  ALL  THAT 
SHE  HAS  DONE,  AND  BY  ALL  THAT  SHE 
IS  GOING  TO  DO,  SHE  IS,  IN  THE  ACTUAL 
STEUGGLE,  THE  SUEEST  ELEMENT  OF 
FINAL  SUCCESS.  Eemember  what  Mr.  Asquith 
said  in  conclusion  in  one  of  his  last  speeches  in 
Parliament — ' l  This  war,  is  a  mathematical  war,  of 
organization  and  endurance,  the  victory  will  lean 
to  the  side  which  has  the  best  army,  and  which 
will  be  able  to  hold  out  the  longest,  and  it  is  just 
that  which  we  have  the  intention  of  doing. " 

ENGLAND,  of  all  the  belligerents,  has  the  great- 
est reserves,  she  has  the  most  material  resources, 
her  industrial  and  economical  possibilities  are 

[17] 


almost  unlimited.  The  longer  the  fight  goes  on, 
the  more  the  weight  of  her  alliance  will  be  felt, 
in  the  balance  of  the  opposing  forces.  She  car- 
ries with  her  innumerable  hopes,  and  it  is  perhaps 
for  that  reason  that  her  advance  is  slow  and  that 
she  moves  with  the  dignity  and  pomp  of  a  great 
cortege. 

AGAIN  LET  US  COPY  AND  NOT  BE- 
LITTLE HER,  AND  DO  NOT  LET  US  LOSE 
THE  ADVANTAGE  WE  HAVE  OF  BEING 
ABLE  TO  PEEPAEE  OURSELVES  WITH- 
OUT HASTE. 

The  feebleness  of  our  military  policy  comes 
naturally  from  the  guilty  conception  of  our  gov- 
ernment in  relation  to  exterior  problems,  or  better 
still,  as  regards  questions  of  humanity.  If,  from 
the  first  day  of  the  war,  our  masters,  had  felt 
that  the  enemies  of  Right  and  Liberty  were  ours, 
we  would  have  commenced  our  preparation 
eighteen  months  back;  but,  by  deceiving  us  as 
to  our  duty  toward  others,  they  have  succeeded  in 
blinding  us  as  to  our  duty  toward  ourselves; 
THEY  HAVE  ENDEAVORED  TO  OPPOSE 
OUR  HONOR  TO  OUR  INTERESTS,  WHEN, 
IN  REALITY,  THEY  ARE  INSEPARABLE, 
AS  ALWAYS.  Our  HONOR  called  upon 
us  to  speak  out,  to  condemn  those  who  were 
acting  against  the  great  cause  of  civiliza- 
tion— our  INTEREST,  was  to  seize  the  occasion 
and  to  put  ourselves  on  guard  against  them.  The 
game  of  the  government  has  consisted,  in  always 
showing  itself  complacent  toward  those  who  they 
thought  to  be  the  strongest,  as  if  we  implored  the 
protection  of  this  force,  as  if  we  did  not  know, 
that  it  has  but  one  aim,  that  is  tyranny,  and 

[18] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

oppression.  It  is  at  least  undignified  and  un- 
becoming for  a  great  nation  like  ours  to  play 
at  such  a  game.  Sooner  or  later,  too  mucli 
cleverness  on  our  part  will  turn  out  to  be 
stupidity,  for  Germany  is  destined  to  defeat,  and 
so,  the  calculations  of  our  politicians  will  be 
worsted  and  we  will  have  compromised,  at  the 
same  time,  our  intelligence  and  our  good  renown. 
The  Policy  to  be  following  at  this  time,  as  always 
is  that  of  HONESTY! 

I  said  a  moment  ago  that  a  statesman  should 
modify  and  mould  his  conduct  according  to 
events;  but  I  did  not  mean  that  he  should  act  like 
a  trimmer,  or  a  weather  cock,  turning  to  every 
breeze.  The  events  to  which  I  refer  are 
those  which  show,  where  stand  the  Honor, 
and  the  Strength  of  a  Nation,  for  the  crimes 
of  Germany  show  clearly  that  it  is  impossible 
to  give  her  full  swing  without  being  besmirched 
and  dishonored.  Her  devouring  ambition, 
her  brutal  methods  of  intimidation,  attest, 
that  in  wishing  to  live  at  peace  with  her  one  may 
be  courting  death. 

We  have,  we  Americans,  two  enemies — one  out- 
side, one  inside — Germany  and  our  political  Pol- 
icy. Germany  because  she  represents  a  perpetual 
menace  to  all  FEEE  people,  through  her  tradi- 
tions, which  are  the  opposite  of  all  we  stand  for, 
of  all  our  fathers  fought  for — our  political  Policy, 
because  it  has  not  the  courage  to  make  us  re- 
spected, nor  to  protect  us  from  future  danger. 
Every  day,  we  are  further  exposed  to  discon- 
sideration  and  ridicule,  awaiting  calmly  and  stu- 
pidly the  day,  when  our  turn  will  come  of  being 
the  victim  of  aggression. 

[19] 


OUB  FRIEND,   FRANCE 

I  am  no  more  than  you  are  the  dupe  of  diplo- 
matic incidents  which  are  regulated,  so  it  is  said, 
by  victories,  followed,  however,  every  time,  by 
further  Forfeits  and  further  Humiliation,  and  the 
price  of  this  Humiliation  is  the  German  vote,  which 
is  in  the  hand  of  Mr.  von  Bernstorff.  I  have  not  as 
a  principle  to  hide  myself  behind,  false  appear- 
ances that  permit  me  to  cloak  my  real  feelings, 
to  fool  my  conscience,  and  to  avoid  responsi- 
bilities. In  this  hour,  which  is  as  important 
for  the  neutrals  as  for  the  belligerents,  we  have 
need  of  a  CHIEF,  a  LEADEB,  not  of  a  mere 
spokesman,  who  negotiates  our  capitulation  at  the 
price  of  our  shame.  Our  Force  and  our  Vir- 
tues, must  come  out  of  this  war  enforced,  not 
weakened,  dead  perhaps. 

The  position  of  neutrality,  is  one  of  those,  which 
can  be  misunderstood  and  abused  most  easily. 
At  first  glance,  it  would  seem  that  the  neutrality, 
which  leads  to  absolute  inaction,  is  an  ideal  one. 
"You  are  fighting,  I  look  on."  But  this  point  of 
view  is  absolutely  wrong,  if  one  goes  to  the  bot- 
tom of  things ;  even  if  we  found  ourselves  before 
a  people  who  respect  our  neutrality,  which  is  not 
the  case,  the  way  in  which  we  looked  upon  it  would 
not  be  equitable. 

A  neutral  people,  is  a  people  who  do  not  favor 
either  one  or  the  other  of  the  belligerents.  It 
is  unquestionable  that  we  have  favored  Germany's 
game  by  allowing  her,  without  protest  by  us  in 
the  commencement,  to  commit  crime  after  crime, 
and  by  furnishing  her  thus,  a  tacit  help.  In  fact, 
we  had  thrown  off  our  neutrality  the  day  we  per- 
mitted, without  lifting  our  voices,  the  violation  of 
Belgian  territory.  There  is  silence  which  equals 

[20] 


OUR    FRIEND,    FRANCE 

assent.  We  have  furnished  to  Germany  the  aid 
of  our  complicity,  and  this  aid  is  considerable. 
Nobody  can  tell  what  effect,  at  that  moment,  our 
firm  protestation  would  have  had  on  the  neutrals 
of  Europe,  who  were  too  weak  and  in  too  danger- 
ous a  position  to  take  the  initiative  of  a  formal  dis- 
approval. 

So,  since  August  4,  1914,  any  true  neutrality 
on  our  part  has  ceased  and  we  have  been  forced, 
unconsciously,  to  take  the  side  of  the  disloyal 
belligerent.  We  have  been  punished,  because  we 
have  acquired  the  discredit  of  the  entire  civilized 
world,  and  the  disloyalty  which  we  protected  has 
turned  against  us. 

Can  the  Administration,  which  is  continually 
confining  itself  within  the  limits  of  jurisprudence, 
tell  me  if  there  exists  any  text  which  authorizes 
the  signer  of  an  International  Convention  to  de- 
mand reparation  for  an  outraged  right  on  the 
Sea  more  than  on  the  Land?  Are  the  crimes 
against  the  Lusitania,  the  Ancona,  the  Persia,  less 
culpable  than  the  violation  of  Luxemborg?  Cer- 
tainly not! 

Therefore,  in  the  name  of  what  principle  do 
we  protest,  even  feebly,  in  the  first  case  and  not 
in  the  second?  Probably  because  American  citi- 
zens are  involved;  but,  can  we  claim  for  the  ap- 
plication of  the  rule  in  OUR  favor  when  we  have 
not  claimed  it  in  favor  of  the  others?  We  have 
allowed  to  be  established  a  precedent  which  in 
good  jurisprudence  forbids  us  to  recriminate  and 
leaves  to  Germany  the  liberty  of  doing  as  she 
pleases.  OUR  DIPLOMATIC  GASPS  WILL 
ONLY  BECOME  EFFECTIVE  AND  LEGITI- 
MATE THE  DAY,  WHEN  GOING  BACK  TO 

[21] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

THE  PAST,  WE  HAVE  CONDEMNED  IN 
BLOCK  THE  TEUTONIC  INFRACTIONS 
AGAINST  ALL  THE  LAWS  OF  HUMANITY. 

This  is  a  second  way  of  understanding  neutral- 
ity. It  is,  following  my  ideas  and  following  also 
yours,  I  will  wager,  the  only  one  which  is  defend- 
able.  We  then  become  the  impartial  observer  who 
does  not  deceive  himself  with  personal  sympathy, 
nor  attempt  to  gain  the  indulgence  of  those  he  be- 
lieves to  be  the  strongest.  We  place  ourselves 
strongly  upon  the  ground  of  the  code,  and  we 
judge  impartially,  each  blow  given  by  each  of  the 
adversaries.  We  favor  neither  one  nor  the  other. 
We  simply  mean  to  see  that  the  rules  of  the  game 
are  followed  out.  Our  role  is  as  simple  as  this. 
We  do  not  pretend  to  play  any  other,  and  nobody 
is  asking  us  to  do  so.  Only,  let  us  remember  that 
sometimes  in  a  duel  the  second  exposes  himself 
to  receive  a  lost  ball  or  a  stray  thrust,  and  so,  let 
us  prepare  to  ward  it  off.  We  have  already  re- 
ceived several  nasty  ones.  We  do  not  want  war 
with  Germany,  but  she,  in  her  fury,  will  throw  us 
a  defiance,  throws  it  even  daily,  and  the  longer 
we  allow  her  to  believe  in  our  weakness,  the  more 
she  will  show  herself  disdainful  and  aggressive. 

Every  time  a  vessel  is  blown  up  and  American 
lives  are  sacrificed  to  German  cowardice,  we  send 
to  Berlin  or  Vienna  a  note  which  speaks  of  the 
Bights  of  Neutrals.  When  will  somebody  send  to 
us  a  note  which  will  tell  of  the  Duties  of  Neutrals  7 

It  is  an  elementary  notion  of  philosophy  that 
every  Eight  calls  for  a  corresponding  Obligation. 
What  Duty  have  we  corresponding  to  the  Eights 
which  we  have  been  claiming  uselessly  since  many 
months  ?  That  of  observing  the  obligations  which 

[22] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

%ave  been  imposed  upon  us,  by  our  very  great 
part,  as  spectators,  that  is  to  say,  to  keep  out  of 
the  fight  only  when  this  fight  follows  rules  laid 
down  by  International  Law.  But  supposing  those 
rules  are  no  more  respected,  our  duty  urges  us  then 
to  act,  our  very  duty  as  neutrals.  If  not  where 
<3an  we  look  for  any  righteousness  in  our  vindi- 
cation? The  clauses  concerning  us  have  no  more 
value  than  those  concerning  the  belligerents  in 
their  mutual  relations.  IF  WE  PEEMIT  ONLY 
ONE  ATTEMPT  AGAINST  THE  LAW  OF 
WAE,  IT  IS  THE  WHOLE  OF  THE  LAW 
WHICH  IS  INVOLVED. 

So,  I  say  that  if  we  wish  with  any  authority  to 
insist  upon  our  Eights,  we  must  previously  fulfil 
our  Duties.  I  expressly  remain  on  the  ground  of 
jurisprudence  in  order  to  take  the  same  point  of 
view  as  our  Masters  who  confine  themselves  to 
it.  I  neglect  willingly,  for  the  while,  any  question 
of  sentiment  or  interest.  Our  Eights  are  strongly 
bound  to  those  of  the  belligerents;  they  form  a 
chapter  of  the  common  law  and  OUE  DUTY  TO- 
WAED  OUESELVES  IS  TO  SEE  THAT  THIS 
LAW  IS  EESPECTED,  JUST  AS  THE  BEL- 
LIGEEENTS'  DUTY  IS  TO  EESPECT  IT,  and 
I  believe  that  now,  after  seventeen  months  of  war 
facts  have  sufficiently  settled  on  which  side  stand 
those  who  respect  their  oath. 

In  his  last  message  to  Congress,  the  President 
has  treated  in  a  similar  way  the  active  friends  of 
Germany  and  those  of  the  Allies.  He  has  involved 
in  the  same  disapproval,  in  the  same  scorn,  every 
American  living  here  or  residing  abroad,  "who 
though  born  and  bred  in  the  United  States  and 
calling  themselves  Americans  have  so  far  forgot- 

[23] 


OUR   FRIEND,    FRANCE 

ten  themselves  and  their  Honor  as  American  citi- 
zens as  to  put  their  passionate  sympathy  with  one 
or  the  other  side  of  the  great  European  conflict, 
above  the  regard  for  the  Peace  and  Dignity  of  the 
United  States."  It  sits  well  upon  the  President  to 
speak  of  Honour,  Peace  and  Dignity  after  eighteen 
months  of  humiliating  apathy,  with  which  he  has 
even  succeeded,  alas,  in  permeating  a  great  por- 
tion of  our  citizens  who  in  their  hearts  know  bet- 
ter. Why  does  he  not  speak  about  those  Ameri- 
cans who  have  put  their  Indifference  to  the  service 
of  Germany.  DO  YOU  FEEL  STRONG 
ENOUGH  TO  MAKE  EESPECTED  YOUR 
RIGHTS  OF  NEUTRALS  THAT  YOU  DO  NOT 
THINK  IT  WORTH  WHILE  TO  UPHOLD 
THOSE  WHO  ARE  FIGHTING  TO  SAFE- 
GUARD THEM?  Your  desire  for  Peace,  which 
is  so  dear  to  you,  which  is  so  dear  to  all  of  us,  it  is 
France  and  her  Allies  who  defend  it,  and  I  am 
more  Neutral  than  you  are,  when  I  chose  to  be 
with  those  who  fight  for  justice  because  I  know 
my  Neutrality  rests  alone  on  justice. 

I  have  committed  the  crime,  I  confess  it,  of 
having  gone  to  France  at  the  beginning  of  the 
War  and  living  there  for  sixteen  months.  At 
least  I  have  been  able  to  enlighten  myself  and  to 
constat  with  my  eyes  where  the  enemies  of  Right 
were  to  be  found.  I  have  had  indisputable  proof 
of  the  German  atrocities!  I  can  swear  that  they 
have  never  hesitated  before  any  crime,  in  order 
to  obtain  through  TERROR  the  victory  they  were 
unable  to  win  by  legitimate  success  of  their  arms. 
The  assassination  of  prisoners  and  of  wounded, 
the  destruction  by  fire,  pillage,  the  use  of  forbid- 
den projectiles,  employment  of  fiery  liquids  and 

[24] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

asphyxiating  gases,  the  bombardment  of  open 
towns,  the  Zeppelin  and  aeroplane  raids  against 
civil  populations.  I  can  guarantee  to  you  that  all 
this  is  true.  I  have  witnessed  many  of  them,  or 
else  I  have  had  in  my  hands  documents  which  es- 
tablished the  truth  of  my  assertions  in  an  abso- 
lute manner. 

But  now,  amongst  all  the  sufferings  I  have  seen, 
none  have  appealed  to  me  so  much  as  those  of 
things — the  martyrdom  of  mutilated  cities,  the  de- 
capitation of  cathedrals,  the  assassination  of  ar- 
chitecture. The  chapter  of  the  crimes  committed 
by  the  Germans  against  the  Stones  should  re- 
main an  imperishable  monument  to  their  barbar- 
ism. It  is  for  this  reason  I  have  said  that  the 
cathedral  of  Eheims  should  not  be  restored  nor 
any  of  the  other  monuments  of  the  past  against 
which  the  Germans  have  vented  their  rage  and 
impotency.  Kepair  them,  yes,  permit  their  wounds 
to  heal,  but  never  attempt  to  restore  them  in  their 
integrity.  They  should  no  more  be  touched  than 
should  the  Parthenon,  because,  that  which  is  lack- 
ing to  them,  their  lost  members  and  their  tortured 
limbs,  should  remain  as  an  eternal  proof  that 
the  cause  of  France  was  right.  All  that  I 
saw,  all  that  I  was  able  to  confirm  during  my 
trips  to  the  front  proves  that  the  Germans  are 
possessed  of  an  unhealthy  desire  for  destruction. 
Rheims,  Arras,  Ypres,  Soisson,  and  many  other 
towns  and  innumerable  villages  have  been  victims 
of  these  profanations,  which  have  no  excuse  from 
the  point  of  view  of  military  necessity.  See  for 
yourselves  the  work  of  these  Vandals.  «  •  • 


[25] 


OUR  FRIEND,   FRANCE 

After  this  let  the  German  Intellectuals  estab- 
lish by  pompous  manifestos  that  it  is  not  true 
that  they  make  war  against  the  Laws  and  Eights 
of  Men.  One  can  always,  by  quibbling  and  by 
using  cleverly  turned  language,  appear  to  turn 
wrong  into  right;  but  the  deeds  are  there.  You 
have  seen  them.  They  are,  indeed,  eloquent.  The 
Neutrality  of  Belgium  violated,  the  attacks  on 
the  lives  and  belongings  of  citizens,  the  de- 
struction of  churches  and  works  of  art.  May  it 
not  displease  Wilhelm  von  Bode,  Director- 
General  of  the  Eoyal  Museum  of  Berlin,  that  un- 
principled fakir  and  presumptous  pedant,  that 
head  of  a  band  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  place 
his  signature  at  the  bottom  of  the  famous  mani- 
festo of  the  German  intellectuals;  none  of  these 
crimes  can  find  their  justification  in  military  ne- 
cessity— they  are  the  result  of  an  education  of 
which  the  object  is  to  place  the  development  of 
force  above  that  of  everything  else — force  is  per- 
haps too  feeble  a  word  to  express  what  I  wish  to 
say,  because  true  force  is  that  which  is  employed 
to  do  good.  VULGAR  BRUTALITY  is  perhaps  a 
more  fitting  expression.  When  a  nation  or  an  indi- 
vidual is  naturally  thick-headed,  they  remain  so 
throughout  all  their  enterprises.  You  may  say 
to  me  that  there  is  no  gentle  way  of  making  war. 
I  concede  this,  but  even  under  the  most  desperate 
circumstances,  there  does  exist  a  decency,  which 
has  been  laid  down  by  convention,  and  which  the 
Allies,  and  I  might  say,  OUESELVES,  certainly 
would  not  have  transgressed,  had  luck  conducted 
us  first  into  an  enemies  country. 

Before  finishing  this  lecture,  I  want  to  say  to 
you  that  Germany  not  only  has  no  scruples  in  the 

[26] 


OUR  FRIEND,   FRANCE 

way  she  conducts  war,  but  none  in  the  peace 
which  she  imposes.  If,  unhappily,  one  is  more 
feeble  than  she  is,  she  adds  the  crime  of  robbery 
to  that  of  assassination— from  Denmark  she  has 
robbed  Slesvig-Holstein;  From  France  she  has 
robbed  Alsace  and  Lorraine;  she  has  plundered 
Poland.  Her  ally,  Austria,  "her  brilliant  second " 
"she,  whose  soul  is  the  sister  of  her  own,"  has 
robbed  the  Bosnias,  Herzegovnia,  The  Trent.  The 
Central  Empires  have  established  their  power 
through  brigandage.  To  explain  to  you  what  I 
mean,  I  would  choose  the  typical  case  of  Alsace 
and  Lorraine.  The  problem  in  itself  is  not  as 
familiar  as  it  should  be  in  this  country.  Many 
regard  it  with  indifference;  others  find  for  it  all 
sorts  of  fantastical  solutions.  It  is  sufficient  in 
order  to  consider  it  from  the  point  of  view  of 
equity,  to  admit,  that  the  only  just  solution  is  that 
which  France  has  dreamed  of  for  forty  years,  and 
which  is  about  to  become  a  reality,  for,  Alsace 
and  Lorraine,  are  ~by  nature,  French.  The  very 
point  of  view  which  I  will  consider  is  that  of  NA- 
TURE, that  is,  Geographically  and  Sentimentally. 
History,  often  infuses  artificial  arguments,  because 
history,  is  the  work  of  man.  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
have  changed  hands  so  often,  that  their  cause 
would  never  be  terminated,  if  France  and  Ger- 
many confined  their  rights  of  proprietor-ship  upon 
historical  facts,  which,  after  all,  are  only  second- 
ary, because  they  have  not  a  permanent  character. 
Eternal  are  those  only  which  are  founded  essen- 
tially upon  nature. 

Let  us  therefore  consider  a  map,  and  the  in- 
ward feeling  of  the  population,  their  HEAETS,  to 
form  an  impartial,  and  neutral,  judgment. 

[27] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

You  will  see  that  the  Ehine  flows  between 
two  ranges  of  mountains,  on  the  one  side  the 
Vosges,  on  the  other  the  Black  Forest.  The 
Ehine  evenly  divides  the  territory  between  these 
two  ranges  and  this  draws  a  line  of  natural  equi- 
librium between  France  and  Germany.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  if  either  one  of  the  powers  steps  over 
it,  the  advantage  she  acquires  is  incontestible.  If 
Germany  advances  to  the  Vosges,  for  example, 
her  zone  of  attack,  or  of  protection  is  increased 
just  so  much.  She  acquires  three  lines  of  defense 
—the  Vosges,  the  Ehine  and  the  Black  Forest,  and 
France  has  but  one  that  of  the  Vosges.  In  order 
that  justice  may  be  satisfied  each  one  of  the  neigh- 
bors should  be  guarded  by  the  same  lines  of  de- 
fense— France,  the  Vosges,  and  Alsace-Lorraine 
by  the  left  bank  of  the  Ehine — Germany,  by  the 
Black  Forest,  the  Duchy  of  Baden,  by  the  right 
bank  of  the  Ehine.  In  other  words,  let  us  imag- 
ine the  field  between  the  Vosges  and  the  Black 
Forest  as  an  enormous  tennis  court,  with  the 
Ehine  figuring  as  the  net;  each  of  the  players  is 
standing  in  his  court  awaiting  the  balls,  but  the 
game  becomes  absolutely  unplayable  if  one  of 
the  players  proceeds  to  suppress  the  net,  and  re- 
serves for  himself  the  right  to  play  in  the  adver- 
sary's court. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  Germany 
searches  always  to  encroach  on  the  frontier  of  her 
neighbors  in  spite  of  that  which  is  just.  It  is  her 
ambitious,  aggressive  policy.  She  never  thinks 
of  anything  but  attacking,  and  her  desire  is  to 
destroy  all  objects  which  may  frustrate  her  de- 
signs. Indeed,  have  not  the  Pan-Germanists  been 
talking  this  long  time  of  taking  the  Vosges,  even 

[28] 


OUR   FRIEND,    FRANCE 

as  they  took  the  Bhine?  If  this  kind  of  thing 
should  go  on  France  would  indeed  be  reduced  to 
absolute  powerlessness ;  but  she  refuses  to  be 
at  the  mercy  of  the  Barbarian — not  only  is  she 
going  to  keep  the  Vosges,  but  she  is  going  to  ad- 
vance her  line  to  the  Ehine,  thus  establishing  the 
equity  between  Germany  and  herself  and  re-ac- 
quiring Alsace  and  Lorraine,  which  belong  to  her 
by  all  geographical  laws.  The  Ehine  divides  Ger- 
many from  France  even  as  it  did  in  the  time  of 
Caesar,  and  just  as  the  Pyrenees  divide  France 
from  Spain;  the  Alps,  France  from  Switzerland 
and  Italy  and  the  Channel,  France  from  England. 
For  Germany  to  have  a  foot  hold  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Khine  is  as  impossible  for  the  equilibrium 
of  Europe  as  to  imagine  her  with  one  in  England, 
at  Dover,  for  example. 

To  this  I  will  now  add  the  sentimental  reasons 
-The  Alsations  and  the  Lorrainians  are  at  Heart 
French.  A  plebecite  would  prove,  it,  if  under 
present  conditions  a  plebecite  were  possible,  which 
is  not  the  case.  After  the  treaty  of  Frankfort  in 
1871,  Germany  gave  the  inhabitants  of  the  ac- 
quired provinces  the  choice  of  remaining  in  their 
little  countries  and  becoming  German  citizens  or 
else  to  leave  them  and  remain  French.  Great  num- 
bers sadly  accepted  this  last  proposition  and  would 
not,  of  course,  have  the  right  to  vote  to-day.  Oth- 
ers remained  attached  to  the  native  soil  in  spite 
of  the  new  naturalization  which  was  imposed,  and 
they  conquered  their  repugnance  in  order  not  to 
desert  their  village.  In  a  plebecite,  it  is  true, 
they  might  vote;  but  their  voices  would  be  suffo- 
cated by  those  emigrants,  that  Germany  poured 
into  the  provinces,  as  soon  as  the  peace  of  71  was 

[29] 


OT7B   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

signed.  She  has,  therefore,  peopled  them  with 
her  colonists,  and  the  result  of  any  referendum 
at  the  present  moment  would  be  a  simple  dupery  I 
It  was  in  '71  that  a  referendum  would  have  been 
just;  but  at  that  moment  Germany  opposed  it  as 
she  opposes  everything  which  is  just.  To-day  the 
real  native  population  would  have  no  chance  of 
constituting  a  majority  of  those  voting,  but,  none 
the  less,  their  sentiments  are  not  and  never  have 
been  disputable.  For  forty-four  years  they  have 
submitted  to  the  tyrannical  yoke  of  the  invader, 
but  she  has  never  won  them  to  her  cause.  They 
have  never  lost  an  occasion  to  demand  their  liber- 
ties, which  are  the  liberties  of  the  French.  They 
have  never  asked  for  self-government,  except  in 
order  to  escape  German  domination  and  to  avoid 
war.  Now  that  this  war  is  unchained,  they  ar- 
dently hope  for  the  hour  when  they  will  again  be 
part  of  the  Great  Eepublic.  The  Abbe  Wetterle 
and  Mr.  George  Weil,  the  Alsation  deputies  fled 
to  France  at  the  beginning  of  the  hostilities.  They 
are  the  true  messengers  of  their  fellow  citizens. 
All  true  Alsace  and  all  true  Lorraine  would  have 
followed  them  had  this  been  possible.  Do  not  for 
one  moment  doubt  that  they  are  not  French  by 
Eight  and  by  Heart.  It  is  another  one  of  the  cyni- 
cal German  lies,  that  would  have  us  believe  the 
people  there,  were  happy  with  their  lot.  Never 
has  Germany  been  able  to  win  them  over.  Her 
oppressive  attitude,  for  forty-four  years,  is  the 
best  proof,  and  renders  any  referendum  useless. 
You,  who  have  the  clear  sightedness  and  the 
uprightness  sufficient  to  establish  the  truth  and 
to  defend  it  with  passion,  EEMEMBEE,  IT  IS 
UPON  THE  SIDE  OF  FEANCE  AND  HEE 
ALLIES  THAT  TEUTH  IS  TO  BE  FOUND 
JUST  AS  AEE  ALSO  JUSTICE  AND  LIB- 
EETY. 

[30] 


To 

THE  HARVARD   CLUB,   BOSTON, 
February    1,    1916 

GENTLEMEN 

All  humanity  is  divided  into  two  camps.  The 
causes  of  this  bloody  division  exceed  greatly,  the 
particular  interests  of  those  people  who  are  in 
arms.  It  amounts  to  knowing,  in  the  entire  world, 
which  is  to  triumph — Eight  or  Wrong,  and,  IF 
THE  NATION  THAT  EESPECTS  ITSELF, 
HAS  THE  EIGHT  TO  ASSIST  AT  WHAT  IS 
GOING  ON,  IN  SILENCE— AND  WITH  AEMS 
FOLDED.  You  are  the  representatives  of  Ameri- 
can intelligence;  solid  and  serious  studies  have 
put  you  in  contact  with  the  past,  even  as  with  the 
present,  in  the  study  of  universal  thought.  You 
are  familiar  with  the  great  events  in  history,  the 
uninterrupted  wars,  which  have  followed  each  oth- 
er through  all  ages,  over  eternally  the  same  ques- 
tion— on  the  one  side  Liberty,  on  the  other  Tyr- 
rany.  On  one  side  Justice,  on  the  other  Iniquity. 
You  are  of  those,  capable  of  lifting  yourselves 
above  all  question  of  time,  of  placing  yourselves 
outside  all  frontiers,  in  order  to  distribute,  accord- 
ing to  its  merits,  blame  or  praise.  You  possess  the 
plain  facts  of  the  great  problem,  which  is  being 
solved  on  the  Old  Continent.  You  are  able  to  judge 
by  reasoning,  not  only  by  instinct.  In  other  words, 
you  are  marked  out  as  capable  of  being  the  arbi- 
trators, and  of  directing  the  spirit  of  our  neutral- 
ity. The  time  has  come  for  you  to  take  up  your 
responsibilities,  and  to  render  sentence  as  to  which 

[31] 


OUB   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

ghall  dominate — the  Kultur  of  Germany,  or  Civili- 
zation. 

For  this  is  the  way  the  problem  is  given  to  us, 
and  I  beg  you  to  consider,  under  what  terms,  Kul- 
tur, has  become  the  unenviable  appanage  of  a 
race!  It  is  always  accompanied  by  a  qualitative 
adjective,  which  localizes  and  restrains  it.  In 
other  words,  it  is  German — German  Kultur!  On 
the  other  hand,  Civilization  has  remained  a  uni- 
versal ideal.  It  is  neither  Eussian,  nor  Italian, 
nor  English,  nor  French,  nor  American.  It  is  sim- 
ply Humanity!  One  is  narrow,  is  part  of  a  Sys- 
tem. The  other  is  vast,  and  corresponds  to  the 
aspirations  of  Nature.  There  lies  the  essential 
distinction,  between  Kultur  and  Civilization.  The 
German  Kultur  represents  a  recent  development 
It  is  the  methodical  conglomeration  of  knowledge 
directed  toward  a  special  end.  CIVILIZATION, 
IS  THE  AIM  TOWARD  WHICH  LEADS  THE 
FEEE  MOVEMENT  OF  THE  SOUL. 

These  definitions,  you  will  understand,  trans- 
late themselves  in  my  mind  immediately  by  artis- 
tic comparisons.  In  spite  of  everything,  my  call- 
ing takes  the  upper  hand,  and  nobody  can  prevent 
me  from  thinking,  that  the  criterion  of  a  beautiful 
work,  is  not  in  its  spontaneity.  And  again,  as 
far  as  regards  human  actions,  I  feel  the  same  way. 
These  actions  are  not  worthy  of  admiration,  nor 
of  respect,  unless  one  feels  that  they  are  not  laid 
down  by  effort,  but  that  they  bear  the  mark  of 
inspiration.  Look  at  a  work  of  painting,  of  sculp- 
ture, or  of  architecture.  You  recognize  that  it 
is  a  master-piece,  by  the  liberty  of  its  conception, 
and  of  its  execution.  If  it  betrays  study,  research, 
labor,  it  is  pretty  nearly  sure  to  be  mediocre.  Well, 

[32] 


OUB   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

everything  that  comes  from  Germany  betrays  all 
that.  That  which  comes  from  France,  (I  choose 
France  to  personify,  morally,  the  cause  of  the 
Allies)  manifests  genius.  Minds  like  yours,  ought 
to  be  sensible  to  this  fundamental  difference. 
There  is  a  question  of  taste,  of  personal  emotion, 
which  ought  to  dominate  all  clear  judgment,  and, 
those  who  place  GERMAN  VULGARITY  above, 
or  on  a  level  with,  FRENCH  GOOD  TASTE, 
seem  to  me  almost  as  pitiful,  as  the  fool  who  pre- 
fers a  cubist  painting  to  a  Fragonard,  or  who 
hesitategbetween  the  two. 

Prussia,  for  over  a  hundred  years,  has  not 
dreamed  of,  nor  attempted  anything  less,  than  to 
impose  her  vulgar  and  brutal  methods,  first  upon 
the  rest  of  Germany,  and  then,  upon  the  whole  of 
the  world.  Drunk  by  constant  success,  she  has 
finished  by  imagining  that  her  task  was  to  regene- 
rate the  Universe.  Little  did  it  matter  to  her,  if 
the  Universe  objected  to  such  treatment.  From 
the  height  of  all  her  arrogance,  she  decided  that 
nothing  could  resist,  that  nothing  would  resist,  that 
she  would  re-create  the  world  a  second  time ! 

There,  where  God  had  worked  for  seven  days, 
she  pretended  to  do  the  same,  only  asking  for  a 
slightly  longer  time. 

When  one  reflects,  nothing  is  more  presumptu- 
ous, nor  more  ridiculous  than  her  undertaking. 
A  little  intelligence,  would  have  saved  her  from 
the  disaster  to  which  she  is  rushing.  To  hope, 
by  artificial  means,  to  infuse  a  new  life  into  all 
Nations,  is  one  of  those  impossible  and  impracti- 
cable schemes,  which  if  it  did  not  entail,  as  it  does 
to-day,  the  horrors  of  a  general  conflagration, 
would  merit  only  laughter  and  derision.  All  the 

133] 


OTJB   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

writers,  all  the  men  of  knowledge,  all  the  artists  of 
Germany,  for  over  a  century,  have  associated 
themselves  and  have  been  the  collaborators  of  this 
pretentious  undertaking.  They  have  furnished  a 
tremendous  intellectual  effort,  to  denaturalize,  to 
distort  the  thought  of  their  fellow  citizens,  from 
their  infancy  up,  and  to  make  of  each  one  of  them, 
what  is  known  as  a  Super-man.  This  is  a  proper 
term,  invented,  (as  you  know)  by  one  of  their  mas- 
ters— Frederick  Nietzche.  If  they  could  have  con- 
tented themselves  by  making  of  the  Super-man,  a 
product  intended  for  home  consumption  only,  if 
Kultur  was  to  be  limited  to  their  Empire,  we  would 
have  nothing  to  say.  The  most  we  could  regret, 
would  be  that  people  of  an  amiable  nature  (such 
as,  for  instance,  the  Badeneese),  had  allowed 
themselves,  to  be  won  over,  to  the  methods  and 
ways  of  thinking,  of  the  Prussians  and  the 
Bavarians;  but,  unfortunately,  the  Super-man 
rapidly  became  an  article  for  exportation,  and  he 
pretended  to  dominate  the  Universe. 

I  have  traveled  not  a  little,  and  I  have  had  the 
occasion  many  times  to  render  account  of  his  mis- 
deeds. To  accomplish  his  "divine"  mission,  he 
recedes  before  no  crime.  By  intimidation  and  by 
ounningness,  he  has  pretended  to  fashion  all  people 
after  his  own  likeness.  It  was  at  that  moment  that 
we  saw  an  army  of  bagmen,  fall  upon  the  Globe, 
some  of  them  carrying  their  vulgar  articles  of 
commerce,  others,  their  no  less  vulgar  theories  in 
regard  to  art  and  intellectual  pursuits.  Commerce, 
literature,  fashion,  have  been  spoiled  by  their  bad 
taste.  France,  delicate  in  herself,  could  not  even 
escape  from  the  contamination.  All  over,  their 
vulgarity  made  itself  felt.  Their  theories  invaded 

[34] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

the  financial  world,  their  blood  insinuated  itself 
amongst  strangers,  through  their  method  of  nat- 
uralization— one  day  crawling  upon  their  bellies, 
and  another  menacing,  they  established  them- 
selves everywhere,  substituting  their  own  image 
for  that  of  other  Nations ! 

This  they  were  doing  very  successfully,  when 
they  lost  patience!  Pride,  leaning  on  military 
force,  suggested  to  them  that  they  could  more 
quickly  accomplish  their  ambitious  task  by  their 
arms,  rather  than  by  their  persuasive  manners. 
These  sealers,  who  pretended  to  the  Heavens,  let 
us  not  deceive  ourselves,  were  really  nothing  more, 
than  "second  story  men."  And  then  the  war 
burst !  It  had  as  its  object,  to  accomplish  at  one 
fell  swoop,  that  for  which  they  had  prepared  dur- 
ing forty-four  years  of  peace. 

It  will  be  their  end,  in  ruining  them,  and  it  may 
have  the  happy  result  of  re-conducting  them  back 
to  their  own  land,  where  they  may  still  continue, 
(if  they  so  see  fit),  to  believe  that  they  are  the 
(rods  of  the  Universe.  Yes !  There,  and  perhaps 
here,  because  their  Walhalla  is  too  cramped,  and, 
where  in  Heaven's  name  can  they  hope  to  spread 
out,  after  it  is  all  over,  and  all  the  gates  are  shut  to 
them,  unless  it  be  in  this  country,  which  has  not 
had  the  courage  to  throw  them  out,  nor  even  to 
blame  them  openly!  It  will  then  be  our  lot,  to 
really  be  the  refuge  for  the  scum  of  the  earth.  The 
indulgence  which  we  show  them,  indicates  to  them, 
that  the  United  States  is  a  refuge  which  they  may 
hope  to  conquer,  by  their  methods  of  seemingly 
peaceful  invasion,  and  from  which  we  are  already 
suffering. 

But  this,  our  present  state,  is  nothing  in  com- 
[35] 


OUB   FBEBND,   FRANCE 

parison  to  what  they  have  in  reserve  for  us.  Their 
Kultur  will  find,  from  one  end  to  the  other  of 
our  vast  territory,  a  wonderful  field — from  Can- 
ada to  Mexico — everywhere  their  seed  will  be 
sown;  And  yet,  up  to  the  present  time,  we  have 
posed  amongst  the  Champions  of  Civilization!  We 
used  to  proclaim  with  pride,  that  WE  also  were 
the  Defenders  of  Eight  and  Liberty.  WE  PRE- 
TENDED TO  PORTRAY,  THE  GREAT  TRA- 
DITIONS HANDED  DOWN  TO  US,  BY  OUR 
FATHERS,  AND  WE  ADMITTED,  AS  OUR 
IDEALS,  THE  MORAL  LAWS  FAMILIAR  TO 
INNUMERABLE  GENERATIONS.  Are  we  go- 
ing to  change  our  point  of  view?  Are  we  going 
to  allow  ourselves  to  be  fooled  by  theories,  which 
have  not  even  the  virtue  of  being  new,  which  are, 
as  old  as  wickedness  and  ugliness?  I  trust  not! 
WE  CANNOT,  WE  THE  AMERICAN  PEOPLE, 
REMAIN  IMPASSIVE,  WHEN  THE  PRINCI- 
PLES UNDER  WHICH  WE  WERE  BORN 
ARE  ATTACKED,  NOR  CAN  WE  ALLOW 
OURSELVES  LATER,  TO  BECOME  THE 
SAFE  ASYLUM  OF  THOSE  WHO  HAVE 
VIOLATED  THEM.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we 
have  committed  the  unpardonable  offense,  of  hav- 
ing asked  for  time  to  reflect  upon  our  course,  but, 
the  more  we  become  conscious  of  our  fault,  the 
greater  it  is,  and  there  is  no  help  for  us  excepting 
in  a  change  of  attitude;  BECAUSE,  IF  WE 
STILL  GO  ON  HESITATING  IT  IS  TO  BE 
FEARED  THAT  WE  MAY  TAKE  ON  THE 
HABIT  OF  OUR  INDIGNITY.  It  is  this  hope, 
without  doubt,  upon  which  our  Masters  in  Wash- 
ington are  nourishing  themselves.  They  hope,  for 
their  security,  that  we  will  think  one  day  as  they 

[36] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

nave  made  us  act.  The  hour  approaches,  in 
which  we  must  judge  them.  This  hour  must  find 
us,  ready  to  insist  that  we  be  allowed,  to  act,  as  we 
think.  We  do  not  wish  to  be  contaminated  by 
German  Kultur,  and  you,  above  all  others,  who 
are  the  guardians  of  our  spiritual  life,  you  have 
the  great  duty  of  arising  and  protesting;  believe 
me,  we  are  not  the  victims  of  our  imagination,  we 
are  not  being  alarmed  by  hypothetical  danger ! 

Kultur  has  no  secrets  for  us.  We  have  had  the 
luck  to  see  it  at  work,  both  in  times  of  peace  and 
in  times  of  war ;  and,  we  would  be  without  honor, 
without  reason,  if  we  did  not  declare  ourselves  its 
everlasting  enemy.  It  respects  nothing  and  no- 
body, no  more  our  ideas  than  our  persons.  It 
has  ravaged  Belgium;  it  has  sunk  the  Lusitania. 
No  matter  to  which  side  we  turn,  we  can  find  no 
excuse  for  our  indifference,  for  our  mute  com- 
plicity. If  we  place  disinterestedness  before  ego- 
ism, we  still  have  the  duty  of  expressing  our  indig- 
nation, against  the  German  will  and  purpose  to 
suppress  the  weaker  peoples  and  to  transgress  all 
laws  for  which  we  have  respect.  If,  on  the  con- 
trary, we  place  egoism  before  disinterestedness, 
THE  INSTINCT  OF  PEESEEVATION 
OEDEES  US  TO  PEOTECT  OURSELVES 
AGAINST  THOSE  WHO  MUEDEE  US. 

We  may  search  in  vain  to  justify  our  inertia — 
the  Germanic  menace  envelops  us;  it  is  directed 
against  all  our  sentiments,  the  most  noble  as  the 
most  common,  and,  in  refusing  to  respect  the  evi- 
dence, we  condemn  ourselves  to  an  insensibility, 
that  means,  to  death.  But  it  is  not  we  who  refuse, 
it  is  our  Government,  AND  SINCE  SUCH  IS  ITS 
DESTINY,  it  will  die.  From  force  of  habit  of 

[37] 


OUB   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

closing  its  eyes,  the  day  will  come,  when  it  will 
open  them  no  more  1 

I  am  convinced  that,  speaking  the  way  I  do,  I 
interpret  the  intimate  thought  of  the  vast  major- 
ity of  my  fellow  citizens.  I  would  indeed  be  sorry 
if  it  were  possible  to  think  otherwise.  I  have 
the  conviction,  that  all  real  Americans,  in  their 
inward  inwardness,  feel  an  uncomfortable  unrest 
when  they  open  their  newspapers  in  the  morning 
and  see  the  manner  in  which  we  are  playing  at 
hide  and  seek,  the  suppleness  with  which  we  get 
out  of  the  way,  and  the  humiliating  ingeniousness 
with  which  our  Masters  use  our  name,  to  obtain 
satisfaction  at  any  price;  and  to  attenuate,  by 
their  cleverness  of  tongue,  or  by  seeming  solu- 
tions, the  aggressive  and  injurious  intentions  of 
Germany. 

If  indeed  the  people  of  America  were  respon- 
sible for  the  acts  of  the  Government  we  will  have 
to  ask,  very  shortly,  like  Germany,  why  we  have 
so  many  enemies.  The  Allies  have  to  be  very 
patient,  not  to  make  us  responsible  for  the  acts  of 
our  Masters.  What  saves  us  is  the  inconceivable 
nature  of  their  conduct  even  in  their  smallest  acts. 
When  for  example  under  existing  conditions  our 
President,  on  the  Emperor's  birthday  sends  to 
him  his  best  wishes,  France  and  England  before 
a  gesture  so  naive  do  not  for  a  moment  imagine 
that  we  join  him. 

Think  of  it,  here  is  a  man,  the  Kaiser,  who  is 
responsible  for  all  the  crimes  against  humanity, 
the  crimes  against  our  fellow  citizens.  Here  is 
a  sovereign  who  has  it  in  his  power,  by  a  single 
word,  to  put  an  end  to  the  abominable  acts  of  his 
admirals  and  generals,  and  yet  does  not  pronounce 

[38] 


OUB   FBIEND,   FRANCE 

this  word.  It  is  the  Kaiser  who<  sank  the  Lusir 
iania,  and  what  lias  our  President  done  to  avenge 
our  victims? 

When  he  becomes  again  a  simple  citizen,  he  will 
be  free  to  send  telegrams  of  felicitation  to  all  the 
assassins  of  the  world,  but  he  has  not  the  right  to 
invite  the  Universe  to  believe  that  his  signature 
means  ours,  nor  do  we  wish  that  we  could  be  ac- 
cused of  receiving  with  smile  and  handshake  Mr. 
Von  Bernstorff,  who  had  the  cynical  presumption 
of  notifying  our  unhappy  citizens  that  his  master 
had  the  intention  of  assassinating  them.  There 
is  a  band  known  as  the  Black  Hand,  which  have 
also  the  habit  of  admonishing  their  victims.  When 
the  police  put  their  hands  on  one  of  them  they 
cast  him  into  prison  until  the  day  that  he  is  judged. 

Let  us  respect  the  diplomatic  immunity  and  let 
us  insist  that  Mr.  Von  Bernstorff  relieve  us  of  his 
undesirable  presence. 

And  yet  I  am  full  well  aware  that  after  the 
affair  of  the  Lusitania  we  carried  off  a  diplomatic 
victory.  We  sent  a  note  and  we  received  one  in 
return  and  then  the  Arabic  was  torpedoed, 
amongst  others,  and  then  the  Ancona ! 

After  that  we  sent  another  note  and  we  carried 
off  another  diplomatic  victory.  This,  if  you  will 
remember  was  on  New  Year's  Day  and  was  evi- 
dently intended  as  a  present  to  the  United  States ; 
but  on  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  the  Persia 
was  blown  up !  The  Turks,  by  Jove ! !  The  Teu- 
tonic empires  are  making  fools  of  us!  This  is 
only  too  clear,  and  they  employ,  to  justify  them- 
selves, arguments  which  cover  us  with  ridicule  and 
which  we  accept.  For  instance,  if,  in  the  case  of 
the  Lusitania  our  citizens  found  Death,  it  was 

[39] 


OUB   FBIEND,   FRANCE 

because  the  Lusitania  sank  too  quickly,  and  in 
the  case  of  the  Ancona,  it  was  because  the  crew 
behaved  so  badly.  I  wish  to  take  up  this  last 
allegation.  It  bears  the  mark  of  a  too  shameful 
cynicism.  I  have  been  in  Italy  and  I  have  seen 
the  magnificence  of  the  Italians  who  are  fighting. 
They  carry  with  them  in  the  struggle  of  the  con- 
flict all  the  ardor  and  force  which  is  one  of  the 
characteristics  of  their  race.  Knowing  them  as  I 
do  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  the  insinuation  is 
an  indecent  lie,  which  the  Austrians  have  used  to 
excuse  their  crime.  Best  assured  that  the  crew 
of  the  Ancona  never  swerved  for  a  single  instant 
from  the  idealism  of  its  duty,  and  that  Austria 
has  invented  out  of  whole  cloth  the  miserable  in- 
sinuation. We  ought  to  blush  to  allow  ourselves 
to  be  thus  treated  as  fools.  To  the  actual  crime 
they  do  not  hesitate  to  offer  us  moral  insult.  In 
all  truth  it  is  marvelous  to  see  the  subtleness  and 
the  ingenuity  displayed  by  our  Masters  to  remain 
under  any  conditions  on  good  terms  with  the  Cen- 
tral Empires. 

A  few  days  ago  at  Washington,  a  Senator  said 
that  Americans  should  not  have  the  right  to  em- 
bark on  ships  belonging  to  the  belligerents,  that  in 
so  doing  they  acted  as  bad  citizens,  that  they 
were  endeavoring  to  embarass  their  own  country. 
It  is  incomprehensible  to  understand  how  such 
language  can  be  uttered  by  the  mouth  of  one  who 
is  credited  to  understand  the  laws.  All  interna- 
tional conventions,  are  supposed  to  protect  the 
existence  of  all  passengers,  no  matter  on  what  ship 
they  are  traveling  or  of  what  country  they  are 
citizens.  Are  we  going  to  bear  ourselves  suffi- 
ciently low,  to  Germany,  to  acknowledge  her  pre- 

[40] 


OUB   FKIEND,   FRANCE 

tensions,  in  encouraging  tacitly  her  liberty  to  kill 
any  civilians  that  she  wishes  to,  except  Ameri- 
cans? And  again,  then  what  guarantee  have  we 
that  they  will  not  attack  neutral  flags?  The  law 
which  places  them  in  safety  is  no  more  solid  than 
the  one  violated.  It  is  either  the  whole  law  we 
should  stand  by,  or  else  no  law  holds  good.  In- 
stead of  getting  satisfaction,  shall  we  be  forced 
to  offer  it? 

The  Government  amuses  itself  with  consulta- 
tions, when  the  hour  of  action  has  sounded  a  long 
time  back!  One  may  almost  say  that  they  are 
prolonging  the  agony  over  the  submarine  ques- 
tion, out  of  a  sort  of  gratitude,  because  they  re- 
member, without  doubt,  that  this  quarrel  has  di- 
verted attention,  happily  for  it,  from  the  Mexican 
question  which  was  babied  along  by  Mr.  Taft  to 
hand  to  Mr.  Wilson,  who,  in  turn,  is  babying  it 
along  to  hand  to  heaven  knows  who;  but,  let  us 
hope  to  someone  with  the  energy  and  intelligence 
to  solve  it.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  adminis- 
tration, up  to  the  present  moment  has,  thanks  to 
the  war,  been  able  to  keep  alive.  However,  soon- 
er or  later,  it  will  be  the  death  of  it. 

I  ask  you  all,  if  it  has  not  come  over  you  more 
than  once,  in  the  last  eighteen  months,  to  have 
felt  wounded  in  your  self-respect  and  in  your 
modesty.  What  has  come  over  us  ?  Who  has  thus 
the  right  to  make  us  hang  our  heads?  We  know 
that  we  are  in  the  wrong;  or,  at  least — through 
the  attitude  of  our  Government — that  we  have  the 
appearance  of  a  people  who  are  deceiving  their 
conscience.  GERMANY  IS  OUR  ENEMY,  AS 
SHE  IS  THE  ENEMY  OF  ALL  FREE  PEO- 
PLE. We  have  nothing  in  common  with  those 

[41] 


OUR   FRIEND,   FRANCE 

who  base  their  grandeur  upon  pillage,  and  upon 
terror,  with  those  who — taking  the  name  of  liberty 
in  vain — have  annexed  by  violence  Alsace,  Lor- 
raine, Slesvig-Holstein,  Bosnia,  Herzogovinia, 
Triest  and  the  Trent,  with  those  who  have  cow- 
ardly invaded  glorious  Belgium,  and  are  now 
strangling  gallant  little  Servia.  THE  SMALL 
NATIONS  IN  THE  WOELD,  EEPEESENT 
A  GEEAT  PEINCIPLE,  FOE,  WITHOUT 
WEAKNESS,  JUSTICE  WOULD  NOT  EXIST, 
AND  LIBEETY,  WOULD  DISAPPEAE,  IF  IT 
WEEE  NO  LONGEE  NECESSAEY  TO  PEO- 
TECT  IT.  Therefore,  do  not  let  us  astonish 
ourselves,  if  German  Kultur  ends  by  the  sup- 
pression of  all  nations  without  defense.  But 
we,  in  the  very  name  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  we 
claim  their  right  to  existence;  not  only  in  this  man- 
ner, do  we  claim  it,  but  in  the  name  of  all  interna- 
tional law  which  we  have  admitted.  My  sixteen 
months  stay  in  France  permits  me  to  say,  without 
fear  of  being  contradicted,  that  the  Germans  have 
considered  these  international  laws,  all  of  them, 
as  "mere  scraps  of  paper/'  Where,  therefore,  do 
they  find  the  impudence  to-day,  of  exciting  them- 
selves, and  ourselves,  against  the  attitude  of  Eng- 
land, to  inspire  in  our  journals,  through  the  inter- 
mediary of  our  administration,  articles  which  at- 
tack the  acts  of  Great  Britain.  They  should  have 
the  modesty  to  keep  quiet;  and  we,  also,  in  our 
not  protesting  against  the  acts  of  Germany,  we 
have  lost  the  right  to  school  whoever  it  may  be, 
and  we  are  no  longer  qualified,  even  to  discuss  the 
legitimacy  of  reprisals,  should  any  of  the  Allies 
see  fit  no  longer  to  respect  international  treaties 
and  conventions. 

[42] 


OUB   FRIEND,   FBANCB 

England,  at  this  moment,  should  be  an  example 
for  us.  A  nation  of  sailors,  the  English  have,  in 
an  incredibly  short  time,  realized  and  perfected 
themselves  as  a  nation  of  soldiers.  We,  who  are 
always  speaking  of  preparation,  let  us  hope  that 
we  will  do  as  well,  when  the  moment  comes,  that 
we  have  the  courage  to  take  a  decision.  For  the 
moment  they  do  not  ask  so  much  of  us.  ALL  I 
ASK,  AND  ALL  THE  ALLIES  ASK,  IS  NO 
DIRECT  PARTICIPATION  IN  THE  WAR; 
BUT,  THE  OFFICIAL  DECLARATION  THAT 
WILL  SHOW  TO  THE  WORLD  OUR  MORAL 
ATTITUDE!  Are  you  of  the  opinion  that  the 
actual  government  interprets,  by  its  ambiguous 
manifestations,  the  sentiments  of  the  United 
States?  No.  Are  you  of  the  opinion  then  that 
we  are  practicing  obedience  to  the  Government's 
wishes  in  an  intelligent  fashion?  There  are  in- 
deed three  ways  of  a  people  understanding  obe- 
dience, as  exemplified  by  the  belligerents  and  our- 
selves. THAT  OF  THE  ALLIES  WHERE  THE 
OFFICERS  LEAD  MEN,  THAT  OF  THE 
TEUTONS,  WHERE  THE  OFFICERS  DRIVE 
THE  MEN,  AND  OF  OURSELVES— A  FLOCK 
OF  MUTTONS  FOLLOWING  THE  SHEP- 
HERD. LET  US  BE  VERY  WARY  OF  HOW 
WE  LEAN  TO  THIS  LAST  METHOD,  WHICH 
LEADS  TO  ALL  KINDS  OF  MISERABLE 
COMPROMISE,  AND  ALL  KINDS  OF  ABDI- 
CATION. 


[43] 


Tr 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 


Syracuse 


N.Y. 


PAT  JAN.  21M  1908 


D 


576 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


